Art and Poetry Connection

As I continued to think about connecting art and writing and nature in my classroom (thanks to the VAST course I took through University of the Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art!), I thought I might try pairing poems and paintings, so that while we are reading/analyzing a poem in class, students also have a visual accompaniment. The poem's structure and form can serve as a mentor text and the painting can serve as inspiration for student's own original poetry.  Here are a few of the pairs I've discovered, but I hope to find more before the school year starts!

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost and 

Poplars on the Bank of the Epte by Claude Monet

Nature's first green is gold, 
Her hardest hue to hold. 
Her early leaf's a flower; 
But only so an hour. 
Then leaf subsides to leaf. 
So Eden sank to grief, 
So dawn goes down to day. 
Nothing gold can stay. 

"The Tree is Here, Still, In Pure Stone" by Pablo Neruda and 

Birch and Pine Tree No. 1 by Georgia O'Keeffe
The tree is here, still, in pure stone, 

in deep evidence, in solid beauty, 

layered, through a hundred million years. 

Agate, cornelian, gemstone 

transmuted the timber and sap 

until damp corruptions 

fissured the giant's trunk 

fusing a parallel being: 

the living leaves 

unmade themselves 

and when the pillar was overthrown 

fire in the forest, blaze of the dust-cloud, 

celestial ashes mantled it round, 

until time, and the lava, created 

this gift, of translucent stone. 

"Night Poem" by Margaret Atwood and Rain by Vincent van Gogh

Philadelphia Museum of Art

There is nothing to be afraid of, 

it is only the wind 

changing to the east, it is only 

your father the thunder 

your mother the rain 

In this country of water 

with its beige moon damp as a mushroom, 

its drowned stumps and long birds 

that swim, where the moss grows 

on all sides of the trees 

and your shadow is not your shadow 

but your reflection, 

your true parents disappear 

when the curtain covers your door. 

We are the others, 

the ones from under the lake 

who stand silently beside your bed 

with our heads of darkness. 

We have come to cover you 

with red wool, 

with our tears and distant whipers. 

You rock in the rain's arms 

the chilly ark of your sleep, 

while we wait, your night 

father and mother 

with our cold hands and dead flashlight, 

knowing we are only 

the wavering shadows thrown 

by one candle, in this echo 

you will hear twenty years later. 







"Warble for Lilac Time" from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman and 

Hydrangeas by Alma Thomas


Philadelphia Museum of Art


  Warble me now for joy of lilac-time, (returning in reminiscence,)
  Sort me O tongue and lips for Nature's sake, souvenirs of earliest summer,
  Gather the welcome signs, (as children with pebbles or stringing shells,)
  Put in April and May, the hylas croaking in the ponds, the elastic air,
  Bees, butterflies, the sparrow with its simple notes,
  Blue-bird and darting swallow, nor forget the high-hole flashing his
      golden wings,
  The tranquil sunny haze, the clinging smoke, the vapor,
  Shimmer of waters with fish in them, the cerulean above,
  All that is jocund and sparkling, the brooks running,
  The maple woods, the crisp February days and the sugar-making,
  The robin where he hops, bright-eyed, brown-breasted,
  With musical clear call at sunrise, and again at sunset,
  Or flitting among the trees of the apple-orchard, building the nest
      of his mate,
  The melted snow of March, the willow sending forth its yellow-green sprouts,
  For spring-time is here! the summer is here! and what is this in it
      and from it?
  Thou, soul, unloosen'd—the restlessness after I know not what;
  Come, let us lag here no longer, let us be up and away!
  O if one could but fly like a bird!
  O to escape, to sail forth as in a ship!
  To glide with thee O soul, o'er all, in all, as a ship o'er the waters;
  Gathering these hints, the preludes, the blue sky, the grass, the
      morning drops of dew,
  The lilac-scent, the bushes with dark green heart-shaped leaves,
  Wood-violets, the little delicate pale blossoms called innocence,
  Samples and sorts not for themselves alone, but for their atmosphere,
  To grace the bush I love—to sing with the birds,
  A warble for joy of returning in reminiscence.

The White Tiger

Today, on my journey to and from my beach book club meeting, I finished listening to The White Tiger. Since I 'read' the novel by listening to its audio version, I have no concept of chapters, only of discs--seven of them. Disc one introduced the narrator, White Tiger, as a wry and witty murderer who, from a secret hide-out, tells his life's story through letters written to the Chinese Premier who will soon be visiting India. At first, I enjoyed White Tiger's sense of humor, and both his situation and the novel's epistolary structure piqued my curiosity. Unfortunately, my interest in his tale deteriorated throughout discs two and three. The protagonist's recollections of his childhood and young adulthood rarely sustained my interest. The needlessly long-winded details of his life growing up with a rickshaw-driver father intrigued me, but as the story went along I found most of these elaborate childhood stories to be largely irrelevant.

Luckily, the novel's pace picked up in disc four and I found myself hesitating to turn the car off when I arrived at my destination, so that I could discover how the White Tiger--a cunning, illiterate, low-caste, and loyal servant--got his name on a wanted poster.

This novel would not be an appropriate whole-class text in a unit on Indian literature due to its profanity, references to sex and prostitutes, and slow pace. Offered as an optional text, it might garner some interest with a particular type of student who will not be turned off by a loquacious first person narrator with a dry wit and a criminal background.

Next up, I'm looking forward to continuing The God of Small Things and ordering Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (@jeetthayil), which recently made the #ManBookerPrize long list.

Human Rights Issues in YA Literature

Sometime in the mid-1990s, when I was around 10 or 11, my grandmother gave me a book called Zlata's Diary, written by a young girl (@ZlataFilipovic) living through the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Around the same time, two new students arrived in my school; they were Bosnian refugees. After reading Zlata's Diary, did I fully grasp the recent trauma my new classmates had experienced? No, but neither can I say that now, as an adult, I understand their experiences. However, reading Zlata's Diary did open my eyes to the experiences of a girl my age half a world away. It made me curious--not cruel--towards the new kids at my school. It did not traumatize me or give me nightmares, but instead put my life and "problems" into a broader context; suddenly, not being allowed to have my ears pierced seemed unimportant. It sparked in me a curiosity about people in other areas of the world. It caused me to question the evil that exists in the world, but it also inspired me be a source of goodness.

As an adult, I continue to be drawn to literature about people living in places and times that are not my own. Reading Never Fall Down (@McCormickWrites) was both a horrifying and inspiring experience for me. As I read, I continued to have flashbacks to Beah's A Long Way Gone and Wiesel's Night. Like Beah and Wiesel, the protagonist, Arn Chorn-Pond, suffers greatly as he endures the Khmer Rouge's violent reign over his homeland, yet he also rises out of that hopelessness and, as an adult, works tirelessly as a human rights advocate.

Never Fall Down is a fairly simple read for high school students, yet its subject matter is complex and challenging, making it a perfect read for both reluctant readers and high-achieving students. In an English/language arts classroom, discussions of novel text might include the literary themes of war, perseverance, and the will to survive, or the writer's process of turning a true story into a work of fiction. McCormick's choice of voice for her protagonist would be a valuable lesson topic, as well. Finally, this book beckons a discussion of the role of the arts in a people's cultural identity. Why did the Khmer Rouge find it so important to wipe out all traditional Cambodian music and art? What is the value of traditional songs, images, and stories?

Social Studies teachers could also use this text to teach about a variety of historical eras. Never Fall Down not only gives readers insight into the Cambodian Genocide, but also provides a platform for discussing other mass killings such as the Holocaust and those in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sudan, Rwanda, and the massacres that are occurring in Syria even as I type these words. The innocence of McCormick's child narrator and his at-times naive perspective on the atrocities he witnesses help students to comprehend an otherwise overwhelming topic.

Although it might be tempting to censor books that contain graphic war imagery and violence from middle and high school students, it's also important to remember that living in a bubble disadvantages everyone--victims and bystanders alike. Students should not be prevented from learning about historical or current events just because they paint a picture that not everything in our world is all roses and butterflies. If we want students to become agents of change, we have to show them what needs to be changed. At the same time, we cannot simply hand students books about tragedies and expect them to feel empowered. Opportunities for empowerment--community service projects, food and clothing drives, petitions or letter/email-writing campaigns--should be an integral part of students' experiences, too.

A few of my favorites:

Kiva @kiva

Habitat for Humanity @Habitat_org

Hope in Haiti

The Indomitable Human Spirit

I didn't choose to read Night and Dawn by Elie Wiesel on my summer break. However, because I'm tutoring a student who does have to read these books for her summer English assignment, I'm reading them as well. As I re-read Night, the harrowing memoir of Wiesel's journey from his small Hungarian town to various concentration and labor camps, I couldn't help but connect his experiences with the recent tragedy of the Aurora, Colorado shooting. In both cases, some victims' lives were lost while others' were spared. Both invite us to grapple with the intense wickedness as well as the exceptional compassion of which humans are capable.

Using literature as a platform for discussing these complex themes with students, can help them make sense of the emotions that arise during times of tragedy. Some notable works about the resilience of humanity:

Memoir
Night by Elie Wiesel (@ElieWiesel)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (@JeanetteWalls)

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (@IshmaelBeah)

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (@DavePelzer)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou)

Infidel by Aryaan Hirsi Ali

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (@MaxineHong1)

Stitches by David Small

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara

Slave by Damien Lewis and Mende Nazer

Other Nonfiction

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose

Fiction
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (@ChrisCleave)

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (@Lisa_See)

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (@jesmimi)

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (@askLaurie)

No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis

Sold by Patricia McCormick (@McCormicWrites)

Speaking of Patricia McCormick, I'm off to read my next beach book club selection Never Fall Down, another tale of a young boy extirpated from his town, separated from his family, and forced to work in a labor camp. I have a feeling my summer of reflecting on the triumph of the human spirit isn't over yet.

Writing Nature

I've already fallen off the wagon. My goal to blog each day was thwarted by a spontaneous camping trip to Lums Pond State Park in Delaware. Since my laptop spent the weekend on my coffee table, all blogging ceased. As my yoga instructor said last week, "Sometimes it's good to get away for a bit.  Sometimes you just need to hug a tree."

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of participating in a course for teachers called VAST (Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (@philamuseum). This year the course was titled "Nature through the Lens of Art and Science." As I enjoyed nature during my weekend of camping, I continuously thought back to discussions and lessons I learned in that course, several of which are recalled below. Since only one seminar was dedicated to exclusively to writing about nature, I must attribute all of these writing lesson ideas to the seminar instructor @BethKephart. (Much thanks!)




Quick Collaborative Poetry
-->Make several pieces of art available for students to view.  
-->Give students 2 minutes to jot down descriptors (words and/or phrases) of any or all of the art.  
-->Students then return to their seats, preferably in a circle, and pass their descriptors to the person on their right. (Don't tell them in advance that they'll be handing them off to another student!)
-->After taking the list of words from the person on their left, students have 3 minutes to create a poem using some or all of their classmate's words. 
-->Share! (Take volunteers or have everyone share.)


What I like about this activity: 1) The short time constraints instill a sense of urgency in students and force them to write on the spot. No time for writer's block! 2) Using art as inspiration for writing is often a more comfortable starting point than requiring students to write about a more personal topic. Before long, the personal topics will surface in their poetry! 3) I like the idea writing poetry using someone else's words-particularly when first starting out. It reminds me of 'Found Poetry.' Experimenting with word choice and arrangement can be less intimidating when the words do not 'belong' to you.

Nature Walk:
-->Read aloud poetry and prose by authors (including by you the teacher!) writing about nature. Potential authors include Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, and Margaret Atwood.
-->Send students out into a natural space (gardens, fields, etc.) to collect words about their observations of the natural world.
-->Reconvene to create group and/or individual poems based on words collected during the nature walk.


Art/photography connection: Ask students to use their camera phones to take photos of objects they find intriguing. The objects in these photos can become inspiration for their poetry or prose.


A Change of Scenery:
-->Share excerpts from Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River 
-->Invite students to write from the perspective of an inanimate object (perhaps one they took a photo of during their nature walk--see previous activity)


Extension: A related lesson plan with a socially conscious emphasis by Bill Bigelow @RethinkSchools: The Human Lives behind the Labels


Love Hate Relationship:
-->Read this Kate Northrop Poem to students.
-->Ask students to write their own "Three Things Loved, Three Things Hated" poem using Northrop's as a model.


Extension: Students choose one "thing" from this poem to become a topic of a longer poem or writing piece.  

Garden Memory:
-->Display a piece of art depicting a garden or other natural scene.
-->Read 2-3 models of writing about nature. 
-->Ask students to recall a favorite memory of a garden or nature and write about it for 4 minutes.  
-->Share! (Volunteers or everyone)  Ask follow-up questions requiring students to reflect on their process of recalling their memories and composing their piece.


The Color of Your Life:
-->Read the following lines from Gerald Stern's poem Eggshell:
"The color of life is an almost pale white robin's green
that once was bluer when it was in the nest,
before the jay had arranged the straw and warm flesh
was in the shell."

-->Give students 4 minutes to answer the question "What is the color of your life?" and share. This would make an excellent icebreaker.

Here's mine:

Freckles and bronze skin on sand;

Crisp pizzelles, chocolate (milk and dark), espresso

Adorning oak, lace-covered tables;

Dirt from gardens, back yards, wooded paths.

Extension: Write about a color without ever naming the color.

The Essential Nature of Collaboration

Favorite quotation from VAST: "It's an illusion that we're ever working alone. We're always collaborating and the more aware of that we become, the better off we are."  -Landscape Sculptor and Artist, Winifred Lutz

Indian Literature for High School World Lit Course

I volunteered to research, read, and review literature from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, etc.) for consideration in a new world literature course for 10th graders.


Reading Now: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Listening to Now: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga


My "To Read" List:
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
A Fine Balance or Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
Midnight's Children or The Moor's Last Sign by Salman Rushdie
Cracking India / 1947 by Bapsi Sidhwa
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
In Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
poetry by Vikram Seth
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
In Custody by Anita Desai
short stories by Tahira Naqvi
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrel
The Ramayana: Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R.K Narayan
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand

Have Read:
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
     While this is a classic text and a superb example of allegory, I'm afraid that its focus on self-actualization and spirituality will cause it to miss the mark with most high school students. Perhaps this text  should be read by Honors students or those who may consider majoring in English, since this book is literally on the syllabus of every high school and college world literature course.

  Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
     As a contemporary Pulitzer Prize winning author, Lahiri should certainly be included in  secondary English curricula today. Both of the aforementioned short story collections  focus primarily on children or adults raised in the United States by Indian parents who adhere to Indian cultural traditions. The theme of identity and feeling caught between two cultures permeate her work.  I didn't find any of the stories to be "inappropriate" for high schoolers, although several had adult themes to which a teen might have trouble relating (ie. A character who has married an American man and embraced American culture must decide whether or not to participate in the traditional Indian custom of inviting her aging father to live with her, her husband, and young child.)   Which stories would be meaningful to high school students?  From Interpreter: "Interpreter of Maladies" and "Mrs. Sen's." From Unaccustomed: "Unaccustomed Earth" and "Hema and Kaushik."

“By Any Other Name” essay by Santha Rama Rau published in The New Yorker March 17, 1951.  http://static.dpsk12.org/gems/montbello/SB9IdentifyingCulturalDifferences.pdf

     This is a short, five-page essay that could easily be read in class or for homework.  In it, Rama Rau describes the prejudices and cultural misconceptions she faced when she was forced to attend a Anglo-Indian school.

Teachers: Travel Internationally and Earn Graduate Credits!

My best friend, also a teacher, is using her summer vacation to travel to Mexico, Russia, and California (the latter might not seem as exotic to west coast residents, but for us east coasters it is!).  Did I mention she is currently volunteering with her church group in New Orleans?

An avid traveler, the annual summertime trip my husband and I typically take did not come to fruition this year due to a decision to rent out our house and undertake a big move 30 miles closer to Philadelphia.

Now, thanks to my globetrotting best friend and the fact that I haven't traveled since June 2011, I've been bitten by the travel bug. While I can't afford a trip this year, I've already started looking into destinations for 2013. As a teacher who has a heck of a lot of graduate courses in her future, I've begun looking into opportunities to earn graduate credits while traveling abroad.

Here's what I've discovered so far:

Creativity Workshop  
(graduate credit from University of Arizona)
Upcoming Workshops
2013

• • Singapore February 14 - 17
  • New York March 1 - 4
  • Istanbul March 10 - 16
  • Prague March 24 - 30
  • New York June 7 - 10
  • Crete June 23 - 29
  • Barcelona July 4 - 10
  • Provence July 16 - 22
  • Florence July 25 - 31
  • New York August 16 - 19
  • New York October 18 - 21

Thom Stecher & Associates  
(graduate credit available from Neumann University)

EDU 526 - Costa Rica: A Multicultural, Geographic and Environmental Experience

Costa Rica is a unique Spanish/English speaking, democratic Latin American country that has gained international recognition for the preservation of their natural environment and educational system. This course is designed to be experiential for teachers and administrators levels K-12. Participants will interact and have discussions with local people learning about their language, food, culture, government, and educational system. We will explore varied ecosystems contained in mountainous areas, jungles, rivers, and Pacific coastline, as well as the flora and fauna that exists. We will study Costa Ricaʼs geography and philosophy of natural conservation. Time will be spent on development of the whole student, including trust, relationship development, and the need of physical activity for emotional, mental, and physical health. This will be accomplished experientially with guided hiking tours, a two day white water rafting trip, guided bus tours with site visitations, canopy tour one hundred feet in the trees, and horseback riding excursion. Readings will be provided, lecture and discussion time with local presenters is planned. Cost:$1500.00 plus air fare $698.55 plus $700.00 tuition includes: lodging, transportation, meals, and fees for guides, presenters, whitewater rafting trip (picture CD included), horseback riding trip, tips, and all entrance fees. Delaware County Christian School (July 14th for registration)

Global Exploration for Educators Organization
(graduate credit available from Indiana University-Bloomington distance education)

Berkeley Summer Sessions
Kenya, Ireland, Brazil and many other options! Not specifically for educators, but many of the courses offered would relate to secondary teachers' content areas.  
"UC Berkeley students, students from other colleges and universities, international students, and adults with an interest in studying abroad are encouraged to apply."  

Arcadia Graduate Study Abroad Program 

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Center for Global Education


Although not available for graduate credit, the exclusive Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Bilateral Projects would be an incredible opportunity for any educator.
 "The program provides short-term study and travel seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities for the purpose of improving their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries." The website also emphasizes that travel is to non-western European countries."

HAPPY TRAVELS TEACHERS!

Why Grown-Ups Should (Re)Read Classics

After spending two tutoring sessions helping a rising 11th grader read and interpret The Great Gatsby, I decided to actually open the book on my own for the first time since I was a high school student myself. As I carried the book home from the library, memories of my first encounter with Gatsby flooded back to me. This is why I love literature. One story can conjure up the most vivid of memories even when other details which should have been more important have faded into oblivion.

The year I read The Great Gatsby was the year I had Mrs. Caffier (caf-ee-ay) for 10th grade English. Mrs. Caffier, who among other similarly bold outfits, proudly wore a skirt which depicted an entire farmscape--from bright red barn to rolling green hills complete with barnyard animals. Mrs. Caffier, who had an uncanny ability to never repeat an outfit. (I hope this is the only reason she ever wore that farm skirt.) Mrs. Caffier, who forewarned us that after she underwent nose surgery, she might return to class with a tampon sticking out of her nose. Mrs. Caffier, who cautioned us to never rely on spell check, recalling the time she had been listed in a school play program as a teacher of "pubic speaking." Mrs. Caffier, who assigned me The Great Gatsby and, regardless of all the study guide questions and projects she also distributed, left me with two enduring memories of the book: a blinking green light of colossal significance and a billboard with huge eye glasses, clearly a symbol of God.

Needless to say, when I reunited with the novel as a 28-year-old, I did so in a much different manner than when I was first introduced to it at the age of 15. (For starters, I was not distracted by a middle-aged woman in a farm skirt.)

As an adult reader of Gatsby, I found myself pausing and lingering over sentences, which I can't imagine had any impact on me as a teenager. I read and re-read one sentence in particular, in which the narrator summarizes Gatsby's disillusionment with the woman he has idolized for years:


"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion."

Colossal vitality of his illusion. How I reacted to those words as a teen I can't recall. Most likely, they confused me, as they did my poor tutee, so I ignored them. However, as an adult, I read these words and recalled the people whom I have admired, even idolized at times, who were later revealed to be severely flawed-which only means they're human. Reflections such as these require lived experience and can hardly be realized by a person who can't yet drive a car or stay out past ten.

Another aspect of Gatsby which I could not appreciate as a teenager is Fitzgerald's luxurious, yet poingant language. His ability to not only depict images of opulence but to use words that convey the transience of that wealth:

"The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath..."

Words like these were so new to me as a teenager that I could barely fathom their meanings.  Reading them again has given me a new appreciation for Fitzgerald's eloquent precision with language.

So, I invite you to dust off a copy of a book you were forced to read as a student. One you loved or one you hardly remember. Embrace the memories it conjures up and the new perspectives you're able to bring to the story.

Authors Visit Philly!

Justin Torres, author of We the Animals, will be visiting Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 20, 2012 at 5:30pm at Giovanni's Room.


Beth Kephart, author of Small Damages 
July 28, 2012  Books A Million, Exton, PA  1 - 3 PM
August 25, 2012 PAYA Festival, West Chester, PA
September 12, 2012 Radnor Memorial Library, Radnor, PA 7:30 PM 
October 27, 2012 Writers House, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Homecoming Memoir Panel with Buzz Bissinger, Cynthia Kaplan, and James Martin 4:30 PM

On Daily Writing and Treasure Island(!!!)

Over the last six years I have cajoled, bribed, encouraged, pressured and inspired (ha, I wish) my students to read every single day for two reasons: 1) because I strongly believe that the more one reads the better he or she becomes at reading and writing, and 2) because I love to read. Writing, however, is not quite as near and dear to my heart. Although I remember a time long ago when I kept various "quote books," journals, and notebooks of poetry, these days I write only when required to do so.

As I gear up to teach a creative writing elective (for the first time) next year, I anticipate asking my students to write each day, and I'm feeling compelled to do the same. Hence, this blog, which will serve as an experiment to see if I actually can find time each day to write.


Creative Writing Lesson #1: Write about what you know.
What I know best is ___books____, so until I can come up with something else to write about, books it is!

My Reviews of Treasure Island!!! and Treasure Island 
(read 7/11/12-7/15/12)

A few months ago, one of my beach book club friends discovered a review of Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine (@levinehere), and we agreed it should be added to our summer book list. The reviewer accurately promised a hilarious read, but failed to warn the reader of the psychotic episodes that would emerge throughout the story. Fifty pages in, I found the book to be hysterical and imaginative. After all, the narrator is a 25-year old college graduate employed at a Pet Library, who aspires to something greater than cleaning up cat poo and shaving dogs. One hundred pages in, I started to deplore the increasingly insane actions of the protagonist whose obsession with Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island leads  to her being marooned on the island of insanity.

In hindsight, I can't say the author didn't drop some hints that her novel's protagonist was wacky bizarre crazy. I should have paid more attention to the three (not one or two) exclamation points in the title and the Holden Caulfield-like narration evident on the first page:

"In the aftermath of my adventure, I decided to write down the whole thing, starting with my discovery of Treasure Island and keeping nothing back, not even the names of the friends and family members whose problems plagued me; and so even though I'd love to go into the other room and stab someone with a kitchen knife, I take up my pen..."

In the end, it is because I had become so attached to the narrator, that her downward spiral affected me so greatly. From the start, I wanted her to reach for the stars!!! Find that dream job!!! Make a difference in the world!!! I was sure that the quotations and lessons she had excerpted from the classic novel would guide her to a fulfilling career, marital bliss, and a general zeal for life!!! When none of that happened, I found myself annoyed, distraught, and confused. So while I can't say that I enjoyed every moment of this book, it sure kept me reading, if only so that I could watch the train (ship?) wreck transpire. Any author who can make me initially connect with a character whom I eventually come to distrust and even disdain earns my vote of approval!

After the mania of Treasure Island!!! I thought I should read the more sedate Treasure Island, thinking that reading the latter would illuminate some hidden meaning that had eluded me in the former. As I read Stevenson's classic for the first time, I did experience a few "a-ha" moments. However, not having prior knowledge of the classic did not prohibit me from accessing Levine's work.

Overall, I found the classic to be a bore, perhaps because it could not live up to the Treasure Island!!! narrator's claims that it contained themes and characters that would change my life. And perhaps because I am not its intended audience. A typical boy's adventure tale, full of far-fetched, impossible feats of valor, Treasure Island's only treasure is its contribution of Long John Silver and his green parrot to the contemporary cannon of pirate imagery. Perhaps at one time, when television and the internet did not compete for a youngster's time, a boy would have been caught up in the action and adventure of this pirate's tale. However, 129 years after Stevenson penned this story, the esoteric language and writing style (think Dickens) and the myriad nautical terms would likely prevent the book from being enjoyed by modern day young male readers whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers devoured the tale in its prime.

Bottom line: If you're looking for a laugh and an opportunity to psychoanalyze a 20-something "boomerang" kid who's not living up to her potential, read Treasure Island!!! (I wouldn't recommend it to young teen readers).  If you want to (re)read a classic, 19th-century novel with no shortage of shipwrecks, marooned pirates, black spots, mutinies, buried treasure, and Jolly Rogers, assuming you have no opposition to ubiquitous maritime lingo, you'll enjoy Treasure Island minus the exclamation points.

Beach Book Club

In May of 2012, as teachers tried using their keys to leave their classrooms (always a bad sign) and as motivation to grade research papers on the legalization of marijuana wore thin, the idea of a beach book club was born in the English Department work room at my school. Finally, an opportunity to read something self-selected! Intelligent discussions of literature! At the beach!  The idea kept sounding better and better.

Two of my fellow teachers offered their beach houses as places for discussions. A third teacher indicated that she was interested in participating and, by the way, could we read the book she had just finished writing? My contribution? I would spend the gas money to drive to the beach once a week. 

Our goal: To read and discuss one book a week.

Our promise: As three English teachers and a librarian, to not be caught dead reading or discussing Fifty Shades of Gray. (Although we all seemed to agree that the YA novel Between Shades of Gray was quite lovely.)

Our list:

June 20-Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

June 27-Home by Toni Morrison

July 11-We the Animals by Justin Torres

July 18-Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine

June 25-Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

August 1-the book by our group member and fellow teacher :)

August 8-It Happened on the Way to War by Rye Barcott 

August 15-Open City by Teju Cole

August 22-Game of Thrones Book 1: A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin

Although as of today, July 16, all four of us have only met at the beach one time (once only a few of us could meet and another time were forced to meet in Pennsylvania), we've still managed to read and discuss the first three books if not in person and if not at the beach then over email or at someone's non-beach house. The discussions have been nothing less than memorable and stimulating. There's really nothing quite like reading a text (be it a poem, novel, or piece of art), forming a staunch opinion on it, and then watching your opinion grow, change, and second-guess itself when confronted by the opinions of others.  

On creating the list:

I must say that I had a difficult time finding "Books to Read this Summer" lists when I conducted my search in late May (2012).  Once our group completed our list, I abandoned my search for "hot summer titles."  It seems like, aside from the 'colorful' book previously mentioned in this blog post, few blockbuster reads have taken the country by storm this summer. Where is the next Hunger Games? Harry Potter? The Help? Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?  Although the books I've read so far this summer have been enjoyable, I'm dying for a new author or series to take on rock star status and be "the next big thing."  If you hear about any such book, please share!

What's In A Name?

Who knew the most challenging aspect of starting a blog would be choosing its name?  

My first trouble was that I had only a vague concept about what the content of my blog would be. Which of my passions/interests/jobs would serve as the most interesting blog content for my readers? Who would these readers be? My friends? Other teachers? As I began my search for a title, these questions swirled through my head and, since I have not answered any of them yet, continue to swirl.

My second trouble was capturing my nebulous idea for a blog in a short, pithy title that had not already been claimed.  Every time I thought I had struck gold, I was confronted with the message "name unavailable." As I inputed what I thought to be creative blog titles and continually had them rejected, I foresaw a horrible dystopian future in which each individual had a unique name and parents were forced to enter name ideas for their future children into a database until they discovered one that was “available.” Move over Apple Blythe Alison Martin! Here comes Lychee Jocund Claribel Calio!

Blog Titles that Weren't to Be (for me) Because They Already Exist:

The Reading Teacher

The Teaching Reader

Two Roads Diverged in a Wood

The Road Less Traveled

The Road Less Traveled By

The Road Not Taken

Travel, Read, Be

Look, Travel, Write

Time to Write

A Time to Write

The Write Time

It's Writing Time

Time2Write

Wherever You Go, There You Are

WhereverUGoThereUR

When my brainstorming took a tragic turn into substituting single letters and numbers for entire words, I knew I couldn't go it alone. It was time to consult my trusty friend Google.

After several inquiries turned up short, Google introduced me to an Oscar Wilde quotation, which I immediately loved and which eventually became the source material for my blog title. (Mostly because it was "available.")

“It is what you read when you don't have to 

that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” 

Admittedly, by excerpting this quotation into a short, catchy blog title, I altered the author's point altogether.  What once was a cogent statement about self-discovery had been mangled into a cliche English teacher command: "Read When You Don't Have To." (One which, I might add, is typically preceded or proceeded by the assignment of hundreds of pages of reading homework.)

In the end, I like the title of my blog.  I don't love it, but it will suffice. It is a piece of an overall statement about reading as a means to learning about self.  As an excerpt, it is a mantra parroted by parents and teachers the world over, to their children and to themselves, in an effort to capture moments of the quiet solitude afforded by reading in a world that never stops humming.